SHARING BREAD
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and
healing every disease and sickness. 36 When
he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send
out workers into his harvest field."
Matt
9:35-38 (NIV)
In our verses for today, Matthew concisely summarizes Jesus’
threefold earthly ministry – teaching,
preaching and healing. This summation
was to demonstrate, particularly to his Jewish readers, that Christ was indeed
their long awaited Savior. All of our
Lord’s actions were intended to have convinced the Jewish people that God’s
hand was moving at this time in His-story to accomplish His purposes. Yes, the time had fully come. His hearers were in turn each held
responsible to repent – turn from their sin and wickedness – and believe that
Jesus was the Messiah.
“When a person sees the excellence of the gospel, he senses the beauty and loveliness of the divine scheme of salvation. His mind is convinced that it is of God, and he believes it with all his heart. The light of the gospel is the glory of Christ, his holiness and beauty. Clearly, it is this divine light, shining into our hearts, that enables us to see the beauty of the gospel and have a saving belief in Christ. This supernatural light shows us the superlative beauty and loveliness of Jesus, and convinces us of His sufficiency as our Saviour. Only such a glorious, majestic Saviour can be our Mediator, standing between guilty, hell-deserving sinners such as ourselves, and an infinitely holy God. This supernatural light gives us a sense of Christ that convinces us in a way nothing else ever could.” Jonathan Edwards
Go figure – it is no different today – we are to turn and
believe. God was and is the Giver of
repentance and faith both at the beginning of and throughout the Christian
life. Funny thing, God never changes. We can rest secure in the unchangeable Lord
and His life giving Word:
6 “I the LORD do not change.” Mal 3:6 (NIV)
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting
shadows. James 1:17 (NIV)
89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the
heavens. Psalms 119:89 (NIV)
Next we discover the compassion our Lord here demonstrated
to the harassed and helpless – which is everyone apart from Christ if they are
honest. It is not a pretty sight when
sheep are left without a shepherd. They
are bothered by wolves, bothered by parasites and bothered by their thick
coats. They are senseless wanderers in a
trackless waste and they are unable to help themselves. We are quite like them. Jesus looked at the lot of human suffering
before His holy eyes and His soul felt deep compassion. Nothing incites us to such deep soul sympathy
like seeing suffering in which the sufferer has no way of eliminating – helpless
to change their lot. That’s the
compassion Jesus was feeling as he looked upon the hurting humanity in His
vision. He hurt because they hurt. Never subscribe to the wrong theory that the
Lord Jesus does not care about our pain, problems or predicaments – even if He
is silent, even if the wind keeps blowing – He cares and He cares deeply. He rises to show us compassion. That is what His passion was all about. I am reminded of the Prophet Isaiah’s words:
18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show
you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for
him! Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)
"While
I regarded God as a tyrant I thought my sin a trifle; But when I knew Him to be
my Father, then I mourned that I could ever have kicked against Him. When I thought God was hard, I found it easy
to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion,
I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who
loved me so, and sought my good." C.H. Spurgeon
Lastly,
Jesus describes the great sea of human need by stating the harvest was
plentiful. In every generation it is so. We are to open our eyes and ears to our
spheres. Have you ever seen or heard of so
much pain and need and hurting – it is indeed rampant. We too live in a time of a plentiful
harvest. Jesus tells us to pray, asking
the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers into the fields. He not only asks us to pray, but He also
commands us to “Go”! Go to the neighbor, co-worker, waitress or
classroom. Go to the furthest ends if
God is leading. If He sets before our
eyes a need – we are the ones to fill it or at the very least, to do our
parts. If we have two feet and a
heartbeat and we are His children there is a plan for our life and He is desirous
for us to walk in it. Furthermore, we
should be desirous to walk in it as well for it is good and pleasing and perfect
and always for our best interest and His glory.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. 19 Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age." Matt 28:18-20 (NIV)
What
I glean from this:
· I am held responsible to turn in repentance from
wickedness and sin and believe in Jesus.
· God never changes.
· I am not only to pray for God to send out workers
into the harvest field but also to be a worker in His field.
